Bond set for former EPD officer accused of violating protective order | AFFIDAVIT

A $500 cash bond was set Wednesday for a former Evansville Police Department officer facing criminal charges after a former girlfriend accused him of violating a protective order.

Steve Hicks, 37, was arrested Monday afternoon following a court hearing on the protective order. Hicks was fired by the Evansville Police Department in December.

The protective order was filed with the Vanderburgh County Clerk's Office last week by 27-year-old Brooke Rockett, Hicks' former girlfriend.

Hicks had been held at the Vanderburgh County Jail in lieu of $5,000 cash bond since his arrest. He appeared before Circuit Court Judge David Kiely by video from the jail Wednesday afternoon.

His attorney, Terry Maurer, told Kiely that Hicks had already appeared in Misdemeanor Court on Wednesday morning and was apprised of the charges against him. His bond was set at $500 cash at that time.

An identical set of preliminary charges had been filed against Hicks in Circuit Court after Hicks' warrant was issued Monday. The Circuit Court charges, and previous bond amount, were dismissed at the agreement of Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Nicholas Hermann.

The temporary protective order lists several encounters Rockett had with Hicks in recent weeks, including numerous text messages and confronting her in Jasper, Ind., and at her Evansville home. She wrote in the document that Hicks showed up at her home Tuesday evening and "banged" on her door for 30 minutes, yelling about ruining her life and how he "has nothing left to lose."

The protective order was filed April 30. Rockett reported to Evansville Police Department that by 5 p.m. May 1 Hicks had violated the order by repeatedly sending text messages to her friends and family, according to a police report.

Additionally, Rockett reported to police that a person she had a protective order against had repeatedly sent text messages to her mother to get Rockett to drop the order. She told police she's "terrified" to walk outside of her house or stay home alone.

On Monday, Vanderburgh Superior Court Judge Les Shively extended the protective order for two years. Hicks, as a result, will no longer be allowed to posses, carry or purchase any firearms under the Brady Act.

Hicks was fired from the department last year. He is appealing his termination from the department.

In December, the Police Merit Commission voted in favor of Police Chief Billy Bolin's recommendation to fire Hicks. He was accused of inappropriately touching a bartender at Rick's 718 Bar several times in two separate incidents in September.

Weeks after his termination, a special investigation by the prosecutor's office found there wasn't enough evidence to charge Hicks with felony sexual battery or misdemeanor battery in that case.

He filed for a judicial review of his termination with the Vanderburgh Circuit Court in January. In April, the appeal was transferred to Gibson County Circuit Court.

Hicks joined the Evansville Police Department in 2004, and in 2012, he was selected as the Downtown Kiwanis Club Officer of the Year and the police department's Field Training Officer of the Year.